COVID-19: On-campus Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities

In March 2020, on-campus research and scholarly activity was curtailed on UBC's Vancouver and Okanagan campuses in response to COVID-19. Following extensive consultations between the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation and Faculties, a gradual resumption of on-campus research and scholarly activity began in June, 2020, in line with public health guidance and regulations.

As of May 1, 2022, all UBC activities are covered by a Communicable Disease Prevention Framework in alignment with the BC Centre for Disease Control and WorkSafeBC. For more information, visit: https://srs.ubc.ca/covid-19/covid-19-safety-plans.

The Field Safety program applies to university-related activities that occur off of UBC campus locations, including off-campus Field Research Activities. You can find out more at: https://srs.ubc.ca/health-safety/safety-programs/field-work-safety/.

Additional guidance applies for research involving human participants. Please consult the websites of the applicable research ethics board (BREB, Clinical REB, C&W REB, PHC REB and the BC Cancer REB ).

TOWN HALLS

The Office of the VP, Research & Innovation scheduled a series of virtual town halls in April and May, 2021 to hear from UBC faculty members about the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on their research and scholarly activities and programs. A summary of the discussions is available.

Last updated: May 2022

Summary of Initial On-Campus Research Curtailment and Phased Resumption

Initial Research Curtailment (MARCH 2020)

The university curtailed on-campus research, scholarship and creative activities on its Vancouver and Okanagan campuses on March 24, 2020. The research community was directed to work remotely. The only on-campus research activities able to continue were those receiving an on-campus research exemption for COVID-19 research and other critical research and maintenance activities.

In April 2020, the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation convened a series of town halls to enable every faculty member to engage in discussions regarding advanced planning for phased resumption of on-campus research, scholarly and creative activities.

The Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation also convened four working groups, consisting of Associate Deans, Research from both campuses to consider issues relating to the impacts of COVID-19 and research curtailment on funding, career progression, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and shared research facilities.

PHASED RESUMPTION (JUNE 2020)

The first stage of a gradual resumption of research activities began in June, 2020.

The plan for resuming on-campus research consisted of stages, each of which could only be enacted if consistent with public health conditions at that time. Due to the unpredictability of the COVID-19 situation, there was no assumption that there would be a linear progression through the stages and a return to curtailment raimed a possibility.

The first stage, which began in June, 2020 provided only limited access to on-campus facilities and adhered to strict physical distancing protocols.

Faculties developed a plan for a first stage of resumption, in which limited access was provided to those requiring on-site resources for their research programs. Faculties were asked to target a per-person occupancy of research spaces ~ 1/3 of normal research occupancy. Faculty research resumption plans had to address all public health guidelines and directives.
Steering committees were formed on each campus. These committees facilitated and reviewed plans for WorkSafe BC compliance in coordination with Safety and Risk Services (SRS) (Vancouver campus) / Campus Operations and Risk Management (CORM) (Okanagan campus).
Once a Faculty's research resumption plan was approved, a Faculty could proceed to implementing the plan. Communication of the enactment of this stage of on-campus research resumption was done at the Faculty level.

A Comparison between Research Curtailment and Stage 1 of Research Resumption

	Research Curtailment	Research Resumption Stage 1
Who can conduct on-campus research?	Those receiving an on-campus research exemption for COVID-19 research and critical research and maintenance activities	Researchers requiring access to on-campus resources and prioritized in Faculty stage1 plan
Who determines access?	Exemption requests approved by VPRI	Faculties identify priority needs for on-campus access
How many researchers can access on-campus resource?	Only those receiving exemptions	We anticipate approximately 1/3 usual research occupancy overall
Is conducting in-person research with human participants permitted?	Research Ethics Boards provide guidance on protocols with restrictions on in-person human participant research	Additional review and the creation of a safe research plan may now be required prior to submission for ethics approval for both new and resuming studies. Please visit the BREB website for the latest guidance on conducting behavioural research. For clinical research at any of the UBC affiliated Health Authority sites, please visit the website for the appropriate clinical board.
Is conducting fieldwork permitted?	Faculties recommend exemptions to allow fieldwork in accordance with all public safety directives. Approved by VPRI.	Faculties approve specific fieldwork requests in accordance with all public safety directives.
Office access	Individual Faculties have specific procedures in place.	Individual Faculties have specific procedures in place.
When are these phases beginning?	Curtailment started on March 24, 2020	Plans can start to be enacted after VPRI/VPA approval starting in early June, 2020

SUBSEQUENT PHASED EXPANSION OF ON-CAMPUS RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

Expanding access to a greater number of researchers and scholars was predicated on the direction and guidance from the Provincial Health Officer. In subsequent stages, expansion of on-campus research activity at the Faculty level needs to be mindful of the potential intersection of access requirements for on-campus teaching and instruction and must be consistent with the individual Faculty Safety Plans.